On Wednesday, community members attended the city council meeting to request that more be done to plant and save more trees in Bakersfield. This is a part of a wider initiative that started over a year ago to ask the city to have a plan to increase the air quality in Bakersfield. A plan was adopted at the time, yet since then, community members are not satisfied with what has been done.
“Whole portions of that plan have been virtually ignored,” said Eddy Laine with the Sierra Club, referencing the adoptions to the tree plan by the city council in 2024.
Laine stated that one specific agreement that has not been upheld is the promise not to trim trees from July to September due to it hurting the trees.
“We were assured by staff that there would be no trimming during bird breeding season, which lasts through September. Yet, over 2,000 trees were trimmed in July, August, and September. Cost over $225,000, and these were not dormant trees. Tree trimming is harmful for trees when they have full leaves on them,” said Laine.
Laine and Rich O’Neil from the Kern River Park Foundation asked the city to do something similar to Fresno City’s plan to save and plant more trees. Laine mentioned that Fresno trims trees every six years.
One issue that started the initiative was when trees were cut down around Truxton Lake. O’Neil said one positive we wanted to mention was that more trees were planted in that area last year.
“I do have a bright spot last year, half, you know, we had some problems down at the Truxton Lake, some trees torn down by mistake. But the city parks and water department came through and planted over 100 trees to replace those that were lost. I hope we can do more of that kind of thing in other areas of the city,” said O’Neil.
According to Laine, when they originally mentioned this issue at a city council meeting in November of 2024, it was because over
Antje Lauer, who is also with the Sierra Club and a professor at Cal State University of Bakersfield, spoke about the city being in a tree deficit. This is despite the fact that, according to Laine, the addition to the city tree plan that was adopted in 2024 called for a tree to be planted for every tree that was cut down.
“Right now, Bakersfield is spending one million dollars on tree maintenance and removal with zero reinvestment, creating a tree deficit cycle,” said Lauer.
She also mentioned the Sustainable Opportunities Advancing Resilience (SOAR Bakersfield) document and the tree plan that lists the goals of planting more trees.
“One of its goals is to enhance quality of life. Investments in green spaces, trees, and public amenities. Several nature-based solutions are described, among them, planting more trees,” said Lauer. She added that on page 39 of the tree plan, it states, “Bakersfield trees approximately only 0.65% of its land area.”
The plan advises the city to increase coverage by 50 to 200 percent, which brings the total to 1 or 2 percent overall. Lauer said that while it may not seem like much, it wouldbe a “significant increase.”
The speakers echoed the same reason for wanting more trees: to improve the quality of life. According to the U.S Eviornmental Protection Agency (EPA), interacting with nature can lower high heart rates and blood pressure while increasing the immune system. The EPA also links tree cover to equity because low-income and minority areas have disproportionately higher harm from extreme heat.
Laine stated the Sirra Club sent Mayor Goh and the City Council a letter on December 8, 2025, asking for answers regarding tree development in Bakersfield. He stated they would like answers to those questions.
“Our goal is a healthy City of Bakersfield tree canopy. Our goal is to increase and improve the quality of life in the city of Bakersfield,” said Laine.
